Fiona

Wouldnt go near with a barge pole

I personally think instead of 'car dealership' the term 'cowboy outfit' would be more appropriate. I bought a car at 42,752 miles from Nottingham branch in May 2020 when I was pregnant with my fifth child as I needed a seven seater and am the only driver in my household. The branch gave the vehicle a clean MOT at 48,837 miles in may 2021. Four weeks after this the vehicle started emitting blue smoke from the exhaust. I took the vehicle back to branch and was told the smoke was not abnormal/excessive and to bring it back in 1,000 miles. I took the vehicle back less than 400 miles later when it had used all the oil they topped it up with previously. At that point it apparently needed £2,000 worth of work doing total, including on the brakes. Please note at this time they also tried to state that the smoke was caused by a broken rocker gasket cover, I have it on multiple accounts from various mechanics (including my dad who used to be a mechanic for the likes Citroen etc) that this would not cause blue smoke from the exhaust. Due to not being happy with this especially considering the MOT I took the vehicle to a garage I have happily used many times and they stated that everything stoneacre said needed doing was incorrect. I then spoke to an after sales manager who stated that the difference in previous diagnosis was due to the different checks they had done, I told him I didn't find this to be acceptable and we agreed the branch would again look at the car, this happened in September 2021 and initially I was told what I was told the first time they looked at the car, I then complained and they again looked at the vehicle and this time stated it need its engine taken apart. In the end due to no confidence in the branch I took the vehicle to be fixed elsewhere and that mechanic was able to on first inspection tell me it was the piston rings and supply me with images. At no point did the branch even mention piston rings. Please also note on more than one occasion did the branch send my V5 to the wrong address and also call me by the wrong name and send out documentation to my address in my mothers name (my mother is the owner I am the registered keeper and we don't live at the same address). Before the vehicle was fixed I asked the branch about my warranty and they said they had no record of it. I have an email from them confirming my warranty. I also feel I should mention that staff members are known to leave reviews about them without mentioning their employment, including on a website that head office apparently have no knowledge of but have replied to the initial review. Concerning one of the review sites used for the review in question, I was told by the company that that review has been taken down (as if that makes it better) and that any other review issues by members of staff are between Stoneacre and the website in question, and that different websites have different rules concerning this sort of thing, this I fundamentally disagree with because I think if Stoneacre are willing to put out misleading reviews then the public should be made aware. The fact that Stoneacre have also on more than one occasion tried to state there was no real problem with the car (the comment about not excessive smoke), I would challenge how that can be true when the piston rings were broken. I have images of the reviews and diagnosis in question and would be happy to supply them to anybody who wishes to see these as well as the images and the report by the mechanic who eventually fixed the vehicle.